Laghuprabandhsangrah

SR No.: 001844
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Jayant P Thaker
Publisher: Oriental Research Institute Vadodra
Publication Year: 1970
Total Pages: 300
Language: Sanskrit, English
Classification: Book_Devnagari, History, & Story
File Size: 16 MB

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girls whom they first enticed and then sold off in marriage even to high-placed Government officers (13.6-8). Gambling was another vice. There is a reference to one Caturanga-dyūta kära (12.16). Beautiful girls-including princesses - used to be put at stake by gamblers who had no blood-relation with them and they had to be surrendered by them to the winners (12.16-17).
The moral degradation of the merchant clan is suggested by the refusal by one of them to return deposits bluntly stating that he had received no deposits at all ( 27.12 ff.). It may, however, be noted that this might well be considered as a solitary instance inasmuch as people confidently used to deposit precious belongings with them, which fact suggests that the receivers of such deposits were in full confidence of the people.
A keen sense of hospitality is indicated by the references to the point that we find in the text. Strangers used to dine at the place of big merchants (1.11). It is stated that minister Säntū had to dine with Sakariya Så ha Haripāla when the former went to the latter's residence with a request from the king to go with him to the royal court (21.5 ff.).
XI. A Brief Critical Appreciation
The fore-going critical and comparative study of the text of LPS can itself be regarded as a critical appreciation of the same. In order to put it. in a nutshell, however, let us, in fine, have a bird's eye-view of the above discussions which would naturally lead us to the following conclusions :
[1] LPS includes ten prabandhas the longest one being the Vikramadityapañcadandacchatra-prabandha comprising eight pages and the shortest being the Kumarirānāka-prabandha of only one page.
[2] Only one Ms. of the whole text is available, while three Mss. were examined for the Madanabhramamahāraja-prabandha. . [3] Four of these prabandhas are unique inasmuch as they could not be traced anywhere else.
[4] In the case of the rest of the prabandhas different versions of whole stories or of parts thereof are met with.
[51 The archaic nature of the language and style of LPS, however, compels us to conclude that its versions are the oldest of all the availableones.